Women's Basketball

Syracuse used a similar formula to beat Tennessee as it used to beat South Carolina on Friday. After a back and forth first quarter, SU went on a 13-0 run in the second quarter to go up 33-26 and never looked back from there. ‘Cuse entered the half up by 6, 41-35.

For the first time in program history Syracuse is going to the Sweet 16.

The Orange looked comfortable in the Carrier Dome once again on Sunday. SU took advantage of the home crowd (third largest in school history) and wore down the Great Danes. Syracuse went down early in the game but quickly woke up and wrestled the lead back from Albany. The Orange entered halftime up 40-33 and never looked back.

The Orange defense was too much for Army to handle as they defeated the Black Knights, 73-56.

The No. 4 seed Syracuse women's basketball team dominated its first round matchup in the NCAA Tournament. The Orange jumped out to an early lead on Friday thanks to its stifling defense. SU pressed Army right from the start and took the Black Knights out of their comfort zone. Syracuse forced 14 first half turnovers and, before it was all over, Army had turned the ball over 23 times.

SU struggled from the field and could not overcome a balanced attack from the top-seeded Gamecocks.

For the second-straight season, Syracuse reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament thanks to a tight victory over Nebraska on Friday.

But that would once again be as far as the Orange could surge.

Despite hanging with South Carolina earlier in the season, SU fell behind early and never recovered in a 97-68 drubbing at the hands of the top-seeded Gamecocks. The Orange finishes the 2014-15 season with an overall record of 22-10.

Briana Day struggled in the paint as Miami dominated with close-range buckets.

Less than a minute into Syracuse’s game against Miami, Orange forward Briana Day turned the ball over, giving Suriya McGuire an easy layup. While they were only the first two points in the paint of the game for the Hurricanes (17-7, 7-4 ACC), the Orange couldn’t find a way to stop them from adding more down low.

Miami finished the game with 44 points in the paint en route to its 85-71 win over Syracuse (17-8, 7-5) on Thursday night at the Carrier Dome.

The point guard scored 27 points as the Orange launched a furious second-half run to pull away.

With his team shooting a paltry 24 percent from the field and failing to make the necessary hustle plays, Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman told his club at halftime to show more urgency.

Consider the message received.

Led by Alexis Peterson’s 27 points and a big double-double from Briana Day, No. 23/22 Syracuse (15-5, 5-2) came out of the Carrier Dome locker room with a newfound swagger and intensity, blitzing North Carolina State (12-8, 3-4) with a 23-0 run en route to its fifth-straight victory Sunday night, 66-49.

The junior has now suffered two ACL injuries within the past 10 months.

No. 21 Syracuse, off to a 10-4 start, will be without star guard Brittney Sykes for the rest of the season, according to a release by Syracuse Athletics on Tuesday.

Sykes, who left Sunday’s game against No. 4 Notre Dame, re-aggravated her surgically repaired ACL after originally tearing it last March in the first round of the NCAA tournament. She made her season debut on Dec. 28 and played in only three games this season.

The sophomore led the team with 15 points as SU cruised to another non-conference win.

Despite a shaky start and a horrendous shooting performance, No. 21 Syracuse (6-1) made easy work of unranked Penn State (1-6) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, defeating the Lady Lions 61-39 at the Carrier Dome on Thursday night.

Sophomore forward Briana Day led the Orange with 15 points, 13 of which came in the first half, and helped build a sizable lead that remained largely unchallenged for the majority of the game.